Chapter 1- Alex (Chris) McCandles hitchhikes a ride from a man named Jim Gallien who is a union electrician. Gallien starts talking to Alex to find out more about him. He starts to get worried that Alex isn't very well prepared for this Alaskan expedition that he plans to go on. He originally thought alex was crazy because he didn't think there was any way he would find food in the area he planned to go and because he wasn't prepared. After talking with him for awhile, he realized how smart Alex really was and he gained faith in him. Gallien offers Alex money, food and equipment several times throughout their drive, but Alex refuses each time. Before he left, he gave Alex his phone number so if he needed anything he could call him.
Chapter 2- Ken Thompson, Gordon Samel and their friend Ferdie Swanson set out for the old transit bus in Alaska on September 6, 1992. When they reached the bus, they noticed a man and woman who had not gone on the bus yet but were close enough to notice a "really bad smell from inside". The door was left open and there was a note attached to it. Whoever had written the note was obviously near death and very weak and needed help right away. Gordon Samel stood on a tree trunk to try to see what was on the bus. He noticed a very large sleeping bag in the back of the bus and reached a hand in to shake it to see if anything was in it. His suspisions were confirmed and he went over to the other side of the bus to see if he could see any better. When he looked in, he could see a head sticking out of the sleeping bag. Chris McCandless had been dead for two and a half weeks. His body was taken to Anchorage where an autopsy was performed. Starvation was posited as the most probable cause of death. At the time of the autopsy, he weighed 67 pounds and there was virtually no fat on his body along with his muscles which had significantly withered away.
Chapter 3- Wayne Westerberg is sitting at a bar recalling his experience with Chris McCandless. Chris stayed with Wayne for awhile and they became very close. Wayne felt that Alex had a problem with his family. Wayne gave Chris a job at the grain elevator and rented him a cheap room in one of the two houses he owned. Westerberg recalls how smart Alex was and how he had a love for reading especially Tolstoy. Chris began to feel that Wayne and his employees were a surrogate family since he felt estranged from his parents and siblings. Westerberg began selling "black boxes" which illegally unscrambled Satelite TV and was arrested by the FBI. Before Chris left Carthage, he gave Wayne a treasured edition of Tolstoy's War and Peace and he stayed in touch with Wayne as he roamed the west. Chris began to think back to his graduation from Emory University in Atlanta in May 1990. He'd been a columnist for, and editor or, the student newspaper, The Emory Wheel, and had distinguished himself as a history and anthropology major with a 3.72 grade-point average. His parents found out after the graduation that he donated his entire last teo years of college tuition to OXFAM.
Chapter 4- Chris' car, a secondhand yellow Datsun, is found by rangers abandoned under a tarp with a note that said whoever found it could keep it. He left it there after he ran out of gas and a flash flood had got it stuck. Chris had abandonded his favorite car and his guitar, money, old clothes, rice and his other equipment he had no need for anymore. His car was used over the next three years by the Park Service to make undercover drug buys that led to numerous arrests. Even though Chris was very attached to his car, he was happy to get rid of unnecessary baggage. Chris documented most of the events that happened to him in his diary including burning any money he had left and he used his camera to make a snapshot album. On August 10, shortly before meeting Jan Burres and Bob, Chris had been ticketed for hitchhicking near Willow Creek and was arrested. His unpaid ticket was sent to his parent's address and they were really worried about his disappearance. When Chris got back on the road again, he caugh a ride with a long-haul trucker into Needles, California. He then traveled down the Colorado River and paddled through Yuma. On December 2, he reached the Morelos Dam and the Mexican Border. It took him three days to carry his canoe and his gear out of the canal near the Morelos Dam. On December 14, since he was tired of paddling, he hauled his canoe onto the beach and set up camp on the edge of a desolate plateau. On January 16, he left his boat and began moving across the Southwest and ended up at the bottom of the Grang Canyon where he met a german couple who gave him a ride. Then he hitchhiked into Vegas after he burried his backpack and entered with no money or ID.
Chapter 5- After chris left Vegas, he traveled to Bullhead City. When he arrived in Bullhead City, he stopped moving for more than two months which was probably the longest time he had spent in one place. He got a full-time job flipping Quarter Pounders at McDonald's. Chris' coworkers recalled how he proved he didn't like to be told what to do by taking his socks off right after work since he had to wear them at work. They also recalled how he smelled bad because he was homeless, but they didn't know that back then because he lied about where he lived. They did say though that he was very reliable and thats why he didn't get fired. Chris later found an empty trailer he was able to stay in for free by a man named Charlie. He sent a postcard to his friend Jan Burres and was really happy to get a response back. He later visited Jan and Bob after quiting his job and leaving Bullhead City. During his stay with Jan, he met a seventeen year old named Tracy and she fell in love with him. Also during his stay, he started to play music. When Chris was about to set off again, Jan gave him warmer clothes that he accepted "to shut her up". Although Jan was concerned about her friend, she thought he would be fine in the end because he was really smart.
Chapter 1- Alex (Chris) McCandles hitchhikes a ride from a man named Jim Gallien who is a union electrician. Gallien starts talking to Alex to find out more about him. He starts to get worried that Alex isn't very well prepared for this Alaskan expedition that he plans to go on. He originally thought alex was crazy because he didn't think there was any way he would find food in the area he planned to go and because he wasn't prepared. After talking with him for awhile, he realized how smart Alex really was and he gained faith in him. Gallien offers Alex money, food and equipment several times throughout their drive, but Alex refuses each time. Before he left, he gave Alex his phone number so if he needed anything he could call him.
Chapter 2- Ken Thompson, Gordon Samel and their friend Ferdie Swanson set out for the old transit bus in Alaska on September 6, 1992. When they reached the bus, they noticed a man and woman who had not gone on the bus yet but were close enough to notice a "really bad smell from inside". The door was left open and there was a note attached to it. Whoever had written the note was obviously near death and very weak and needed help right away. Gordon Samel stood on a tree trunk to try to see what was on the bus. He noticed a very large sleeping bag in the back of the bus and reached a hand in to shake it to see if anything was in it. His suspisions were confirmed and he went over to the other side of the bus to see if he could see any better. When he looked in, he could see a head sticking out of the sleeping bag. Chris McCandless had been dead for two and a half weeks. His body was taken to Anchorage where an autopsy was performed. Starvation was posited as the most probable cause of death. At the time of the autopsy, he weighed 67 pounds and there was virtually no fat on his body along with his muscles which had significantly withered away.
Chapter 3- Wayne Westerberg is sitting at a bar recalling his experience with Chris McCandless. Chris stayed with Wayne for awhile and they became very close. Wayne felt that Alex had a problem with his family. Wayne gave Chris a job at the grain elevator and rented him a cheap room in one of the two houses he owned. Westerberg recalls how smart Alex was and how he had a love for reading especially Tolstoy. Chris began to feel that Wayne and his employees were a surrogate family since he felt estranged from his parents and siblings. Westerberg began selling "black boxes" which illegally unscrambled Satelite TV and was arrested by the FBI. Before Chris left Carthage, he gave Wayne a treasured edition of Tolstoy's War and Peace and he stayed in touch with Wayne as he roamed the west. Chris began to think back to his graduation from Emory University in Atlanta in May 1990. He'd been a columnist for, and editor or, the student newspaper, The Emory Wheel, and had distinguished himself as a history and anthropology major with a 3.72 grade-point average. His parents found out after the graduation that he donated his entire last teo years of college tuition to OXFAM.
Chapter 4- Chris' car, a secondhand yellow Datsun, is found by rangers abandoned under a tarp with a note that said whoever found it could keep it. He left it there after he ran out of gas and a flash flood had got it stuck. Chris had abandonded his favorite car and his guitar, money, old clothes, rice and his other equipment he had no need for anymore. His car was used over the next three years by the Park Service to make undercover drug buys that led to numerous arrests. Even though Chris was very attached to his car, he was happy to get rid of unnecessary baggage. Chris documented most of the events that happened to him in his diary including burning any money he had left and he used his camera to make a snapshot album. On August 10, shortly before meeting Jan Burres and Bob, Chris had been ticketed for hitchhicking near Willow Creek and was arrested. His unpaid ticket was sent to his parent's address and they were really worried about his disappearance. When Chris got back on the road again, he caugh a ride with a long-haul trucker into Needles, California. He then traveled down the Colorado River and paddled through Yuma. On December 2, he reached the Morelos Dam and the Mexican Border. It took him three days to carry his canoe and his gear out of the canal near the Morelos Dam. On December 14, since he was tired of paddling, he hauled his canoe onto the beach and set up camp on the edge of a desolate plateau. On January 16, he left his boat and began moving across the Southwest and ended up at the bottom of the Grang Canyon where he met a german couple who gave him a ride. Then he hitchhiked into Vegas after he burried his backpack and entered with no money or ID.
Chapter 5- After chris left Vegas, he traveled to Bullhead City. When he arrived in Bullhead City, he stopped moving for more than two months which was probably the longest time he had spent in one place. He got a full-time job flipping Quarter Pounders at McDonald's. Chris' coworkers recalled how he proved he didn't like to be told what to do by taking his socks off right after work since he had to wear them at work. They also recalled how he smelled bad because he was homeless, but they didn't know that back then because he lied about where he lived. They did say though that he was very reliable and thats why he didn't get fired. Chris later found an empty trailer he was able to stay in for free by a man named Charlie. He sent a postcard to his friend Jan Burres and was really happy to get a response back. He later visited Jan and Bob after quiting his job and leaving Bullhead City. During his stay with Jan, he met a seventeen year old named Tracy and she fell in love with him. Also during his stay, he started to play music. When Chris was about to set off again, Jan gave him warmer clothes that he accepted "to shut her up". Although Jan was concerned about her friend, she thought he would be fine in the end because he was really smart.